Grinding steel balls are a special type of rolled metal used in ball drum mills as effective grinding bodies. Ball mills are used in a wide variety of modern industries. They can be found at the mining, cement, coal, construction and other enterprises. Most often, balls for such mills are made of steel or cast iron. The mill operates as follows: the rotating cylinder is filled with grinding balls mixed with the crushed raw materials (colored/ferrous ore, cement, coal, etc.). As a result of rotation, friction occurs, a blast effect is present. The crushed product turns out downstream. For example, cement is the result of a similar grinding of clinker granules. Depending on various factors (the size and operating time of the mill, the diameter and strength of the balls), you can vary the final degree of grinding.
Grinding balls of various diameters can be used in two-chamber mills. An example of a similar mill: in the first chamber, using balls of larger diameter, coarse grinding is carried out. After that, the raw materials, crushed to the required size, fall into the fine grinding chamber, where the balls of smaller diameter are ground to the final required level.
Ceramic Balls
Not so often, grinding balls are produced from ceramic materials. In this case, they can be:
- corundum;
- porcelain;
- albite;
- uralitic.
Ceramic balls are optimal for those cases when you want to get the finest grinding. Usually, they are used in pharmaceutical, biochemical, chemical and mining enterprises. Moreover, their maintenance is allowed for the implementation of dry grinding, and for the implementation of colloidal or liquid grinding (production of paint and varnish compositions, glass, making cement, and so on). Ceramic grinding bodies have some advantages (increased grinding activity with a guarantee of low contamination of the product being processed, high wear resistance, etc.), but at the same time, their cost is very high compared to cast iron or steel balls. Due to this, they are not widely spread.
Steel Grinding Balls and Their Adventages
The most common for mills are steel grinding balls. They are characterized by high strength, reasonable cost of their production, as well as the following properties:
- Excellent balance. The ball mill, equipped with steel balls, has a long service life because it does not experience significant beats and vibrations that can lead to unit breakage.
- Uniform wear the product, which guarantees a reduction in the costs of the enterprise, due to an increase in the maximum development of the ball.
- The relatively low weight of one grinding body. The balls are easily mounted in large mills, easily transported and unloaded.
All described advantages of steel products allow them to apply them in the most different technological processes. They are indispensable for grinding bulk building materials that need to be given specific physical parameters. When using steel grinding bodies in the finished product, there are no large solid fractions, while ensuring its homogeneity.
